The Sound and the Fury

Perhaps it makes him a philistine, but Macro Man could never stand Faulkner. Over the course of his (liberal-arts) educational career, your scribe had occasion to pay the odd visit or two to Yoknapatawpha County, but he can’t say that he ever enjoyed the experience too much. Still he has to give Faulkner his due; his book titles make excellent plagiaristic fodder for that 21st century literary form, the blog post.

For Macro Man finds himself confronting a veritable tempest of market news, data, storylines and price action, and it’s taking all his effort to stay on top of the sound and the fury of the day. Consider:

1) The SGD breaks out. Regular readers will know that Macro Man has followed Singapore for quite some time, viewing the SGD as a good way of implementing his “collapse in global trade” theme. Although it’s a bit dangerous to look at the SGD exclusively versus the dollar, Macro Man nevertheless finds it instructive that USD/SGD is breaking both last year’s high and a longer term downtrend line. A weekly close above 1.5350 would look pretty darned bullish.

2) The “coffee rule” in action? Time was, if the stock price of a financial went below $10, it was a sign of imminent death- viz. the Agencies, AIG, Lehman, et al. These days, $10 is the new $100- a sign of rude financial health. Macro Man would therefore like to propose a new test of financial solvency: the coffee rule. If your share prices falls below the price of a cup of coffee, you are (pardon the pun) toast. In that vein, two (erstwhile) giants of American banking, Citi and BofA, both look doomed. And indeed, rumours are swirling that both will be nationalized over the weekend. Macro Man doesn’t believe the hype…but then again, maybe that’s because the “coffee rule” is a more robusta (sorry!) plan than anything coming from Washington.

3) Caveat Dip Emptor. There seems to be a broad feeling across market participants that things must eventually improve and recover, if only by default. Macro Man himself has started to build a “bottom of the drawer” long term recovery portfolio of beaten-down stuff with a limited loss profile. But insofar as we are all turning Japanese, it is perhaps worth taking a longer term look at the original; the Topix made a fresh 25 year low last night. Ouch!

4) What recovery? Earlier in the week, the German ZEW survey printer higher (on the expectations component, at least), prompting at least a few observers to cue up a little D:ream on the iPods. Sadly, this voyage down memory lane may have been a bit premature, as the composite Eurozone PMI lurched lower, with both components making fresh lows.

5) Policy paralysis. Meanwhile, the policymaking in Europe is swiftly becoming even more disappointing than the US. Yesterday’s speeches from Merkel and Barosso failed to deliver a concrete lifeline to troubled European nations…indeed, a cynic might suggest that the only thing on offer was a pair of cement shoes. Little more clarity has emerged this morning, as a host of talking heads have offered a lot of bark but zero bite. One proposal doing the rounds would be a series of joint bond offerings, wherein core European countries would lend their AAA rating to their less fiscally fortunate brethren. And to top it all off, it is bond option expiry day today in Europe! Oh the joys (or otherwise) of short gamma….

6) Cuckoo clocks and Crunch bars only get you so far in life. Switzerland has come under the microscope again this week. UBS avoided being charged by the Justice Department but is being pressured to divulge thousands of names of potential fraudsters. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown is calling for world action on tax havens, which are depriving politicos like Gordo of their rightful appropriations. This is the same Gordon Brown that is prime minister of a country whose affiliated territories include the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, and the BVI…noted tax havens, all of them. In any event, the renewed focus of tax avoidance has helped put a bit of pressure on the CHF over the past 24 hours. It’s remarkable how despite fresh lows in stocks, neither classic safe haven currency (yen or CHF) has recently outperformed the euro, let along the dollar.

And there you have it: a complete market weather system. Macro Man has his hands full today, managing his book, some options expiries, and a visit to the orthopaedic surgeon to get the official diagnosis. Oh well, things could be worse.

At least he won’t have any time to read Faulkner.

• Become A Funded Futures Trader